ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With nine returners from last season, the Navy women's tennis team is slated to open the 2025-26 campaign on Friday, as the Midshipmen host the 16th Annual Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational this weekend in Annapolis, Md.
 
With head coach Keith Puryear and associate head coach Alessandra Pedergnana kicking off their 18th leading the program, Navy will welcome seven other teams to the Fluegel-Moore Tennis Stadium and Tose Family Tennis Center this weekend, as tournament action starts up Friday at noon. Competition on Saturday and Sunday is slated to begin at 9 a.m.
 
Tournament Information
Singles play will be broken up into five draws, while doubles competition is set for three flights … Friday includes doubles action up to semifinals in the main draw, while main-draw singles goes up to the quarterfinals … Saturday will feature the semifinals of main draw doubles and one round of consolation doubles, along with the quarterfinals and semifinals of main singles and consolation singles … Sunday is set to have the main-draw doubles and singles finals and the consolation singles finals.
 
Scouting the Competition
The Mids are scheduled to host Binghamton, FDU, George Mason, Patriot League foe Lehigh, Mary Washington, Monmouth and St. Bonaventure at the 2025 Moore Invitational … Six of the seven teams also attended the 2024 edition of the Moore Invitational, while Lehigh competed at the 2024 Navy Blue & Gold Invitational and the 2023 Moore Invitational … Binghamton, Mary Washington, Monmouth and St. Bonaventure will all be competing in the Moore Invitational for the fifth-consecutive season dating back to 2021 … Navy earned 6-1 wins over the Bonnies and Mountain Hawks and a 7-0 sweep over the Patriots during the 2025 spring dual-match season.
 
Returners Recap
Taking over the captaincy will be junior Manci Pal, who will lead a group of nine returners from a 2024-25 team that went 17-12 overall and 4-2 in league play, advancing to the Patriot League Semifinals … Fellow junior Olivia Fermo also returns after being named the 2025 Patriot League Doubles Team of the Year alongside the recently-graduated Emily Tannenbaum, with Fermo going 22-4 in doubles competition last year … Fellow juniors Anna Jordaan and Julia Lee also bring back experience, with Jordaan looking to rebound after a season-ending injury in the spring … A talented sophomore class is headlined by the duo of Molly Bellia and Emma Gu, who posted singles records of 16-8 and 21-6 last season, respectively, while classmate Grace Li played 14 matches in the No. 2 singles spot over the spring campaign … Peyton Amspacher-Philemon and Ji Soo Oh will also look to take steps in their development after registering winning records in both singles and doubles play.
 
Counting the Newcomers
Puryear and Pedergnana added four newcomers to the roster for this season, as the group was rated as the 11th-best mid-major recruiting class by the Tennis Recruiting Network and each player earned a four-star ranking from the service … Virginia native Jina Cha was ranked No. 88 in the national class of 2025 and No. 2 in the state of Virginia … Named Michigan's 2025 Miss Tennis as a senior, Nicole Fu was ranked No. 83 in the national class of 2025 and No. 3 in the state of Michigan … Sydney Fuger holds the Missouri state records for most combined wins in a season and most combined wins in a career … The granddaughter of a Naval Academy graduate, Anna Wiskoski was ranked No. 46 in the national class of 2025 and No. 4 in the state of Illinois.
 
Recapping the 2024 Moore Invitational
The 15th annual Bill & Sandra Moore Invitational had the Mids win seven of the eight combined flights, with Navy players capturing all five main singles draws along with the "A" and "C" doubles brackets over the three-day tournament … The Mids were highlighted by Tannenbaum claiming the "A" singles competition as well as partnering with Fermo to win the "A" doubles flight, while three different freshmen claimed at least a share of a draw victory in their first college action.
 
Up Next
Navy will return to action Sept. 26-28, sending Emma Gu and Molly Bellia to the Milwaukee Tennis Classic while the remainder of the squad hosts the Navy Blue & Gold Invitational.